63 Benny Lynch

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Benny Lynch

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Benny Lynch

Statistics

Real name Benny Lynch

Rated at Flyweight

Height 5 ft 4 in (1.63 m)

Reach 65 in (165 cm)

Nationality Scottish

Born 2 August 1913

Gorbals, Glasgow, Scotland

Died 6 August 1946 (aged 33)


Govan, Scotland

Stance Orthodox

Boxing record

Total fights 119

Wins 88

Wins by KO 34

Losses 14

Draws 17

Benny Lynch (2 April 1913 – 6 August 1946 in Gorbals, Glasgow, Scotland) was
a Scottish professional boxer who fought in the flyweight division. He is considered by some to
be one of the finest boxers below the lightweight division in his era and often been described
him as the greatest fighter that Scotland has ever produced. The Ring Magazinefounder Nat
Fleischer rated Lynch as the No. 5 flyweight of all-time while his publication placed him 63rd in
its 2002 list of the "Best Fighters of the Last 80 Years".[1][2] Like Fleischer, both Statistical boxing
website BoxRec and the International Boxing Research Organization also rank Lynch as the
5th greatest flyweight ever.[3][4] He was elected to the Ring Magazine hall of fame in 1986 and
the International Boxing Hall of Fame in 1998.[1]

Contents
[hide]

 1Life and career


o 1.1European flyweight champion
o 1.2World flyweight champion
o 1.3Later career
o 1.4Death and legacy
 2Notable bouts
 3See also
 4References
 5Further reading
 6External links

Life and career[edit]


He was born in a tenement flat at 17 Florence Street[5][6] in the Gorbals area of Glasgow and
learned his fighting skills in the carnival booths that were popular in the West
of Scotland during the Great Depression.
European flyweight champion[edit]
Lynch won the Scottish flyweight boxing title on 16 May 1934 with a 15 round decision over Jim
Campbell in Glasgow. He then went on to win the British, European and world flyweight titles
from Jackie Brown in an historic bout held inManchester on 9 September 1935.[7] The fight
attracted enormous support from Glaswegians who travelled en masse to watch Lynch floor his
opponent eight times before the bout was stopped in the second round.[8]
World flyweight champion[edit]
There was dispute, on at least on one side of the Atlantic, as to who was the best flyweight
boxer in the world. Lynch settled the matter when he out-pointed Filipino Small Montana in
London in 1936 to established himself as the undisputed world flyweight boxing champion.
From 1932–36, he lost just five fights; two of them were points losses to Jimmy Warnock a
'southpaw' from Northern Ireland, on 2 March 1936 in Belfast and again on 2 June 1937 in front
of a home crowd in Glasgow. In 1937 he handed legendary English puncher Peter Kane his
first loss by devastating knockout.[9]
Later career[edit]
By 1938, Lynch's drinking lifestyle meant that he could no longer make the weight for the
flyweight division. He forfeited his world flyweight title against AmericanJackie Jurich, when he
weighed in at 118.5 lb (53.8 kg), half a pound over the bantamweight limit. Despite his weight
problems, Lynch stopped Jurich in the 12th round.[10]
Death and legacy[edit]
On 26 August 1939 his boxing license was officially withheld due to an inability to the meet
standards of the Boxing Board's fitness test. He would continue to battle with alcoholism for the
rest of his life despite several attempts to treat the disease. Lynch died in 1946 of malnutrition
induced respiratory failure, aged 33. He was buried at St. Kentigern's Cemetery, Glasgow, with
some 2000 people attending the funeral.[11]
He was featured on the cover of Scottish rock band Gun's second album, Gallus, in 1992. A
documentary about the life of Benny Lynch, directed by John Mackenzieand narrated
by Robert Carlyle, was made in 2003. The second track on the Scottish folk musician Norrie
MacIver's début solo album is a biographical song about Lynch.[citation needed]

Notable bouts[edit]
Rd.,
Result Opponent Type Date Location Notes[12]
Time

Aurel 1938- National Sporting


Loss KO 3 (10)
10-03 Club, Kensington, London
Toma

Jackie 1938- St Mirren Football


Win KO 12 (15)
06-29
Jurich Ground, Paisley

Draw Peter Kane PTS 12 1938- Anfield Stadium, Liverpool Retained World
03-24 Flyweight Title.

1937- Retained World


Win Peter Kane KO 13 (15)
10-13 Shawfield Park, Glasgow Flyweight Title.

Jimmy 1937-
Loss PTS 15
06-02 Celtic Park Stadium, Glasgow
Warnock

Small 1937- Empire Pool, Wembley, Won World Flyweight


Win PTS 15
01-19 Title.
Montana London

Jimmy 1936-
Loss PTS 12
03-11
King's Hall, Belfast
Warnock

Jackie 1935- Kings Hall, Manchester,


Win RTD 2 (15)
09-09
Brown Lancashire

Jackie 1935-
Draw PTS 12
03-04 Kelvin Hall, Glasgow
Brown

1933- Palais de Danse, West


Win Bert Kirby PTS 12
10-29 Bromwich, West Midlands

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